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How the Yale Halloween Vigilantes Finally Got Their Way

Nicholas and Erika Christakis step down from their administrative posts, closing a sorry chapter at the university.

By

Zachary Young

June 3, 2016 6:18 p.m. ET

Nicholas Christakis and his wife, Erika, came to Yale University in 2013 with high expectations. At Harvard, the couple had held prominent teaching and administrative roles. At Yale, Dr. Christakis, a sociologist and physician, received a laboratory directorship and four appointments; Ms. Christakis, an expert in early-childhood education, became a seminar instructor. Two years after their arrival at Yale, Dr. Christakis and Ms. Christakis were awarded positions as master and associate master of Silliman College, Yale’s largest residential college. (I attend the university and reside at Silliman).